OK, so I think I want to get the wagon specific pink springs, the ones that are on sale at subarugenuineparts.com I know that if I put them on my stock struts that it will reduce the life of those struts, that's not my concern. I want these springs because they are stiffer, but not too stiff and they are wagon specific. Option 1: Use the pink springs with my stcok struts: Will the stocks be able to perform well enough with the increased spring rate? Well enough for street use and maybe the occasional AutoX. Option 2: Get some tougher struts. I was thinking 04 STi takeoffs (or OBS, if they are different) would work as they are stiffer (right?) and my wagon ride height is determined by the springs and not the struts. In other words, if I have wagon specific springs, do I also need wagon specific struts? Any other cheap options would be appreciated; I am pretty sure that coilovers and the like are not going to work for me.
The wagon and the sedan struts are not interchangeable, there is a difference in the front track so you will have to get wagon-specific struts or you are going to lose some negative camber in the front. The wagon and sedan do share the same rear strut, but the fronts are not interchangable. I'm running Prodrive springs on my 02 bugeye wagon with Koni inserts and I'm totally happy with the package. On full soft, the Konis are just as comfortable as my stockers were, and at half-way, is a nice tight ride without being thrashy. Still haven't tried them on full stiff yet... but haven't really felt the need to either. The Koni install isn't as bad as I thought it would be, and I think for the money, it's an excellent value... but wouldn't necessarily fall into "cheap" (I paid $650 shipped for my inserts). What really kills the stock struts quickly when using aftermarket springs is the change in ride height, which forces the strut to work with a travel that it's not optimized for. I don't remember if the Pinks change the ride height very much, but with only a slight change in suspension geometry, you will not see a substantial amount of wear. However the ride might be a little more bouncy if the spring rate is overpowering the shocks.
Cool, that helps a lot. I am actually contemplating going to sedan control arms in the front sometime in the future, so my second option may work better down the road. The drop for these springs is listed as 15-22mm, I don't really know if this is considered a lot or a little, but to me 22mm does not seem like "a lot"
Wagon specific pinks are made to work with stock WRX wagon struts. I think they're a little stiffer than Prodrives. Look in the sticky at the top of this forum and I've got a list of all of the springs available for WRXs.
right, I checked that. The pinks on sale are 223 195 prodrives are 215 195 This seems pretty close. If you find some prodrives on sale for cheaper than the pinks, let me know. I have been looking at this stuff for a while, and the pinks seem like a really good way to go for a moderate increase in stiffness, fitment with stock parts, a small drop in ride height, and price.
Prodrives are typically around 274 in most places. Sometimes they go lower. I'll be going with these someday. :wtc: wants his uber suspension setup put on sounds like the pinks are what your looking for though. as for strut wear, I doubt it's going to be a noticeable difference. I've heard in some places that these kind of springs actually lengthen it a bit due to the strut not moving quite as much. Not sure how accurate that is though.
Took me a while but I found this... the breakdown on the Prodrives. You might want to get touch with them or check to see what the spring rates are on the newer model springs. The switch from Linear to Progressive does make a pretty big difference. I'm running the 02 blue springs and are very happy with them, but I have an 02. They changed the rear spring perches in '04, and I don't believe that they're backwards compatible. I think the 02-03 guys can run the '04 top-hats and use the 04 springs, but if I remember correctly, you can't run the 02-03 tophats on an 04. What's nice about the Prodrives is that they have a rake to them, where they drop the front more than the back... for sedan's it's kinda nice look, but for the wagons it's actually taking care of the @$$ heavy stance the wagon aquires once the stock springs have lived a while. Before my nose was way higher than my tail... and the biggest improvement that the Prodrives had for my handling was to get the front end down to the level of the rear and balance the car again. Not sure if the later wagons have that issue, but in the 02-03 wagons it's very major.
Here's a pretty dramatic example of the rake... I didn't take posed "before and after" pics... but take a look at the front wheel to fender gap between these two pics. Before After Seriously changed the whole dynamic balance of the car, it was massively scary before if you even approached the limit on a corner or braking.
Yeah I really want some 05 Prodrive STI springs but the Espelir GT springs were cheaper. If you search around I've got some pics of a bugeye wagon sitting on 05 Prodrive reds and the drop is perfect as well as the spring rates.
Wolfsong, my wagon has the same issue with its stance. Another reason I wanted the wagon specific springs was to eliminate, or at least NOT make worse, the saggy butt of the wagon. Are the prodrives much more expensive than the pinks?
I have the Whiteline "control" springs that have a 40mm, drop all the way around on my 06 Saab 92x wagon (Impreza) and I have that saggy butt issue also. But the springs are stiffer but not annoyingly stiffer and still offers great handling I love em! I may look for the Whiteline "Flatout" springs for the fronts later for a more aggressive lower drop on the fronts. They are great in the mountains!